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2023/24 School of Chinese Seminar

耕讀的中斷與民國前期的知識人離村

The Interruption of Farming and Reading and the Departure of Intellectuals from Villages during the Early Years of Republican China

講者 Speaker: 羅志田教授 Prof. Luo Zhitian (Sichuan University)

主持人 Moderator: 林姵吟教授 Prof. Lin Pei-yin (HKU)

日期 Date: June 6, 2024

時間 Time: 16:30-1800(HKT)

語言Language: Putonghua

地點 Venue: CRT-7.30, 7/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, HKU

從南宋起，朱熹等士人曾努力推動建立一個以士君子和鄉人為主體的民間社會。在近代西潮衝擊下這樣的「民間」逐漸淡出，耕讀傳家的生活方式難以為繼。民國前期城、鄉因文化差異而解紐，缺乏一條可以互通的橋樑，造成知識人離村且往而不返的新現象，極大地影響了後來中國的發展。在向現代轉型的過程中，由於鄉間的耕讀傳統已中斷，以城市為中心的新教育培養出的知識人自己「別樹階級」，卻未必為其他人所接受。嚮往城市的知識青年在城市並未得到太多歡迎，而鄉村又已成為一個難以回歸的故地。由於在城鄉都成了「他人」（the other），許多知識青年不得不漂泊於城鄉間、城市間或城市中，成為瞿秋白所說的「薄海民」（Bohemian）。

Since the Southern Song Dynasty, scholars such as Zhu Xi have strived to establish a civil society consisting of literati and villagers. However, under the impact of Western modernisation in recent times, such a minjian society has gradually faded away, and the lifestyle of passing on knowledge through farming and reading has become unsustainable. In the early years of Republican China, the cultural differences between urban and rural areas caused a rift, and the lack of a bridge for communication led to a new phenomenon where intellectuals left the village and never returned, significantly impacting China’s future development. During the transition to modernity, due to the interruption of the rural tradition of farming and reading, the intellectuals trained by the new urban-centred education system created their own class but were not necessarily accepted by others. Urban-oriented young intellectuals were not warmly welcomed in the cities, and the countryside had become a place difficult to return to. As both urban and rural areas became “the other,” many young intellectuals had to wander between cities and towns, becoming what Qu Qiubai referred to as “Bohemians.”

羅志田，普林斯頓大學博士，歷任四川大學、北京大學歷史系教授，現任四川大學文科傑出教授。著有《再造文明之夢：胡適傳》、《權勢轉移：近代中國的思想、社會與學術》、《亂世潛流：民族主義與民國政治》、《國家與學術：清季民初關於“國學”的思想論爭》、《革命的形成：清季十年的轉折》等。

Luo Zhitian, who obtained his PhD from Princeton University and taught in the History Departments of Sichuan University and Peking University, is currently an outstanding professor in the humanities at Sichuan University. He has authored Dream of Remaking Civilization: A Biography of Hu Shi; Power Shift: Ideology, Society, and Learning in Modern China; Undercurrents in Turbulent Times: Nationalism and Politics in Republican China; State and Scholarship: The Intellectual Debate on ‘National Learning’ in Late Qing and Early Republican China; The Formation of Revolution: Turning Points in the Ten Years of Late Qing Dynasty, among others.

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